Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Home Watching Babies & Birds

Would have posted this a bit sooner, but you know...babies. Just finished feeding Lucy and putting her to bed, again. Eat sleep eat sleep eat sleep. That's all they do, pretty much.

The above photo is of a Gulf Coast Toad that was sitting at our back door this evening. One was on the front porch too. Rained hard today, and that makes the little crawlies restless. Makes the frogs more vocal, and when the ground gets saturated the toads and snakes seek high ground. Sometimes they take refuge under our porch.

Since the beginning of June I've been home with Michelle and the twins, so I've had more opportunity than usual to observe birds around our yard. Yesterday I saw a pair of Broad-winged Hawks and a Mississippi Kite, both of which I suspect of nesting here in past years. Breeding activity isn't over yet - from our front windows I've watched Brown Thrashers and Northern Mockingbirds collecting nesting material. I recently discovered a Cliff Swallow colony where Highway 69 crosses Pine Island Bayou - less than a mile from home. I've never seen any around our yard in spring or summer. Considering the close proximity of this colony I find that a bit odd.

The babies are doing fine. Here's the obligatory photo.There they are, the two best babies ever.